TALKING POINTS: Tyler Wright summarizes 2021 NHL Draft

EDMONTON, AB - The 2021 NHL Draft has concluded with the Oilers welcoming six new prospects to the franchise.
Edmonton completed this year's selection ceremony by taking four forwards and two defencemen:
Following the event, Oilers Director of Amateur Scouting Tyler Wright took questions from the media. Read and watch Wright's full interview from the Hall of Fame Room below.

Wright on whether the scouting staff tried to take risks with picks:

"I don't think we were trying to play it safe. Any time you're trying to predict the future of an 18, 19-year-old young man's life, there's no crystal ball out there to say exactly how it's going. We try to be as diligent as possible and do our due diligence behind the scenes. Your background checks, your talking to people, your talking to coaches, talking to people that are surrounded by the player. You try to gather as much information as you can and mix that in with the product that's on the ice, the position that they play and how they play. I liked what we did today but every team says they like what they did today. Time will tell."

On 90th-overall selection and German defenceman Luca Münzenberger:

"We were really excited. He was a target for us. Last night when we moved back and we were able to get the 90th pick today, I think there was a little bit more hope that he would be there. He's a big body guy, played at the World Juniors here during Christmas time. He's in the University of Vermont right now working out and training there. We talked at length with the people at Vermont. We're really excited. He's a big body guy that plays a heavy game and now we got to develop him."

On Münzenberger's many connections to the Oilers including his shared nationality with Leon Draisaitl and having Todd Woodcroft, brother of Bakersfield Condors Head Coach Jay, as his coach at Vermont:

"For sure. I've known Todd from his days back in scouting for the LA Kings and have a relationship with him. Obviously, his brother is the coach of our American Hockey League team. He was very upfront and honest with us and we appreciated that. He was a big help through this process with the limited viewings that we could have outside of the World Juniors, for the most part."

On Draft picks Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson, who got the opportunity to continue developing in the QMJHL & WHL, respectively, this past year:

"It was really important for Xavier, for that matter, being a late birthday and being in the league for two years. So, we had watched him a tremendous amount before this year. That was helpful. We were very familiar with Jake going into this year. They played 22-24 games in Regina and we had a scout between myself and our Western guys at probably all 22 or 24 games that were there. We covered it really thoroughly, to say the least."

On this year's Draft rankings being so unpredictable:

"We work hard. Really, really hard and we stick to our guns. We got a game plan. Seattle came right out of the board today. That's good on them. They liked the player and I think that's just kind of the way this Draft went. There are going to be certain areas that you probably know better or maybe that you feel a little bit more comfortable with. We had a game plan going in and we stuck with it. We had some targets and hit a lot of them. We're pretty excited with the final product today."

On whether Wright believes that there could be some hidden gems in the Draft due to the unpredictable nature of it:

"Yeah, for sure. There's always great value if you go back in any Draft and you see guys taken anywhere from outside the top three rounds. In the third to seven (rounds), there are always guys that go on to have really good careers. Every pick that we make, we're grinding it out to fit into our philosophy on how we want the Oilers to look. We've got our depth charts, we've got certain deficiencies throughout the organization that we're trying to fill. By making the pick, now they've got to become players and we've got to develop them with every resource possible. This is the start of that."

On Matvey Petrov, Shane Lachance and Max Wanner, who were the final three Oilers Draft picks:

"Petrov's a big guy, 6'2'', with very good skill. He had 22 goals and 20 assists this year in the MHL over in Moscow in Russia. He played at the under-18s this year and was a skilled player that we liked. Everybody says it if he was going to be there but we were happy with it.
"Lachance is another big forward with good bloodlines. His father played in the National Hockey League and he's got some NHL pedigree, obviously. He's 6'5'' and going to go to Boston University. We have some time with him. Good hands, good hockey sense. Has to work on his skating and get his feet going a little bit.
"With our seventh-round pick with Wanner, another big 6-foot-3 defenceman. A right-handed guy that plays in Moose Jaw. Got injured in the bubble then came back. Another kid that needs some mentoring, some direction and now that we got them into the pool of prospects, it's our obligation to make sure we give them every resource to develop these players. That's what you have to do in this League now."